Something's rotten in the City of Boston
by Mac3
Summary: A very different take on Don't leave me this way. Jordan is not accused of JD's murder, but someone else and what is her relation to Doctor Gregory House. Crossing Jordan House crossover. Chapt one starts out with a House scene
1. Chapter 1

I don't own them, House and Crossing Jordan belong to their respective owners. The only character I own is Leah Rysten.

"House, you're going and that's final!" said Cuddy as she slapped shut a case folder that she had been looking at.

"You know I hate Boston."

"That's a line of crap and you know it. You don't even have to call her. It's not like you're going to run into her. She works in a whole different part of town."

"Yeah, but then if I do run into her I'll get the riot act for not calling her and telling her."

"Like I said before, your still going to keep an eye on the others, and how you handle your relationship with your daughter is none of my business. If you don't go to Boston you'll owe me an additional fifteen hours of clinic duty a week."

"Slave driver." Muttered House knowing that it was pointless to argue with Cuddy about this, arguing with her now meant more clinic hours to have to try and pawn off on an unsuspecting duckling. He left her office and made his way to the conference room next to his office. He wasn't too surprised to see all of his ducklings there but was just a little surprised to see Wilson there writing on his white board.

"No sick kids to take care of today? What are we playing? Dirty word hangman?" asked House as he pushed Wilson out of the way. He saw what was written on the board in Wilson's sloppy handwriting. Why House hates Boston.

"It's the beans, okay." He snapped then going on, "We leave this afternoon, I'm not sure exactly what the conference is about, but I'm sure Wilson's all ready filled you in on that. If any one needs me I'll be in the obstetrics lounge."

"What was that all about?" questioned Cameron just a little concerned about House's reaction.

"It's a long story and one that I can't tell you about." Said Wilson as he then left the conference room

Cameron then looked at Chase and Foreman, "The two of you have been here longer than me, do you know?"

"Well, there was a rumor going around a year or two ago that House has a daughter around our age. I have nothing to confirm or deny that rumor. The only ones that know are House, Wilson and Cuddy, but there's no way I'm sticking my head in that lion's den to satisfy your curiosity." Said Foreman.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to wait until we get to Boston and do some digging myself." Said Cameron.

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Lily Lebowski was very surprised along with Jordan Cavanaugh when they went to get Leah Rysten from her hotel room.

"Come on sleepyhead, it's time to get up!" Leah mumbled something and then woke up, when she started to sit up she was very surprised when she realized that she was holding a gun in her hand that was also covered with a bit of blood, but whose? She then turned her head and saw that JD Pollack's dead body was lying in a chair next to her bed.

"Leah, come on." Said Jordan as she entered the hotel room and started to comprehend the scene that she saw before her. "Leah, what happened?"

"I-I don't know"

"Okay, Leah, put down the gun, we'll figure this out. Leah, put down the gun." Said Jordan as she heard Lily enter the room.

"Lil, call Garret and have him send a crime scene unit down here."

"Jordan, what happened?" questioned Lily as she peaked her head around Jordan's shoulder and saw JD's body. "Got it?"

Within minutes Lu Simons, Garret Macy, Bug, and Nigel were at the crime scene.

"I'll handle the trace on Leah, Nige you and Bug start collecting trace here" said Macy as he lead Leah off to the bathroom of the room. By the time Garret and Lu searched Leah, Garret could tell she was a little shocky.

"Easy Leah, slow deep breaths. We'll get you into a different set of clothes in a few minutes. Let me have a look at your hands."

"Any idea as to what happened?" questioned Lu.

"I really don't remember." Said Leah.

"How much did you have to drink or weren't you paying attention?"

"I only had two drinks, the last thing I remember was coming up here and then having Jordan and Lily wake me up from outside the room." Garret by this time was done taking trace off of Leah's right hand and looked up to see a bruise on her upper right arm.

"How'd you get this bruise Leah? Did JD give that to you?"

"Garret, I honestly don't know, it's very possible, everything's a blur or there's empty spaces in my memory."

"Okay, we're going to get you to a hospital, have you get checked over a little more thoroughly, and have your blood sampled."

"I'll go with her." Said Lu.

"Leah, remember you don't have to say anything to her without your lawyer present." Leah nodded her head and was led out by Lu. Nigel watched Leah as she walked out with Lu. He could tell that she didn't know which way was up.

(Five Hours later back at the morgue) "Well, he suffered bruising on his chest and lungs, possible car accident a few months back from the state of healing, or a bar fight." Said Garret

"Somebody didn't want to give him three steps to get out the door." Said Nigel as Garret shot him a look and went on, "Liver looks as if it's seen better days, and last but not least two gun shot wounds."

"And any one of us would be able to testify to self defense on Leah's behalf if need be. We all saw what happened when Leah had agreed to go out with him for that very short time." Said Nigel as Garret then asked, "Do you have the ballistics results ready yet Nigel?"

"I'm getting there. Okay, running it through the computer re-enactment. Oh dear lord." Garret and Bug were both standing over Nigel's shoulders when they heard that reaction come from him. "JD was shot in the back." Said Nigel.

"Not a word of this gets out, you hear me? I'm heading down to the precinct."

(Meanwhile at the Boston PD) "Okay Leah, let's take this from the top. What do you remember about the party and the events leading up to what happened?"

"Not too much, Bug's speech, one of the drinks that I took a sip out of that I thought was mine was JD's it was on the strong side." Said Leah as Woody popped in a security surveillance tape.

"This is footage of what happened outside in the hallway of your hotel room. Do you remember anything about what you and JD were arguing about?" questioned Woody.

"No, but seeing this is helping, but not by much, it explains how I got the bruise on my arm." Said Leah as she got lost in her own fuzzy thoughts about the conversation that took place. _"Why is it so important that you have to return that call?" _

"_It's my father." "Come on Rysten, you told me that you and your father hardly ever speak, so what's the big deal, come with me to DC." _ Leah was then brought out of her reverie when she heard Woody say Garret's name

"Detectives, could I have a word with the two of you alone."

"Garret, what's going on? What did you find out? Let me see." Said Leah as she took the folder from him and opened it. When she saw the findings her blood went cold. Woody having worked with both Jordan and Leah numerous times to know their body language could tell something was wrong."

"What is it?"

"JD was shot in the back, so it's murder" she said as she let the file drop to the desk next to her, as Lu started to red her her rights and lead her away to booking. Once the two of them were gone Woody turned to Garret, "You and I both know that she couldn't have done this, we have to clear her."

"I know, right now things don't look good. She tested positive for GSR and her finger and handprints were on the gun."

"I'll see if I can pull a few strings at the DA's office. Any family that we can call for Leah's support team?"

"It's not very likely, she and her biological father are on uneasy ground with each other."

"Crap, so, we're pretty much on our own."

(Later the next day in court) "How do you plead Ms. Rysten?"

"Not guilty your honor."

"Plea of not guilty entered. Terms?" asked the judge looking at the prosecuting attorney.

"We'd like Ms. Rysten held until trial, no bail. She's a flight risk." At this time Jeffrey Brandau entered and whispered something to the lawyer. "Mr. Brandau, care to share with the class?"

"Your honor, I'm sorry for the interruption, but I just got off the phone with Ms. Rysten's lawyer who is finishing up another case and we were able to reach a deal. Ms. Rysten will be held on bail, surrender her passport so as to not be a flight risk, and she is not to set foot in the Boston County Morgue until the trial is over. If she violates any of these terms she will be held until trial."

"Ms. Rysten?"

"I agree to those terms."

"For the knowledge of the court the name of Ms. Rysten's lawyer?"

"Adam Pierson."

"Court is adjourned until such time evidence is brought forward." After the judge dismissed the court Brandau came up to Leah.

"You're free on bail, Pierson all ready posted it for you. My suggestion to you is go home, unplug the phone and rest."

"Thank you Jeffery. I'm sorry that this is putting a damper on your wedding with Lily."

"Leah, don't go there now." Said Jeffery as he made his way out. Leah was able to make her way a little further down the main aisle of the courtroom when she heard a voice, "They sure didn't give you a lot of options did they luv?"

"Nigel?"

"Dr. M let me come. Thought you needed a little moral support, plus I needed you to answer a few questions for me about a few things we found."

"Nigel, you know I can't step foot-"

"Since when have you and Jordan exactly played by the rules?"

"Since I really don't want to spend any time in a jail cell with a roomie by the name of either Gertrude or Big Bertha."

"All right, all right, we'll go to your place then to talk." Said Nigel a little taken aback at how Leah was acting. A half an hour later Leah and Nigel were at her apartment.

"So, what did you find?"

"Well, for one we found a memory stick on your key chain."

"A memory stick. I don't even own one."

"It's JD's luv, with files from the morgue on it and photos."

"What!"

"It's true. Did you have your access card on you?"

"Dammit! I had left it in my top desk drawer that morning on accident and when I came in I saw JD rummaging around through the drawer, he said he was looking for an aspirin, and that he wasn't snooping, the snitch swiped my card and what else did you find out?"

"Not much we're still trying to work on that, but from what I've been able to piece together so far is that the cases that he took happen to go back to a judge in DC by the name of Gordon."

"So, it's possible that JD could have been on a story and he got too close to finding out the truth."

"It looks like it's starting to point that way. I need to head back, you call me if you need anything." He said as he gave her a hug and kissed her on the top of the head.

"I will." Said Leah

(Later the next day) Lily decided to pay Leah a visit to see how she was coping. "Hey how are you?"

"All right, I guess. Jordan called me and told me what happened. You don't have to cancel your wedding because of me. Go on with it."

"I really want to help, this is an all hands on deck situation."

"I hope Jeffery understands that. He was a little cool towards me at my arraignment."

"Don't worry about him, he knows or should know how far back you and I go as friends, and let's face it, the whole crew at the morgue is your family, and we're here to support you." Said Lily as she wrapped Leah up in a hug, and then noticed that the answering machine that was sitting on the side table was flashing.

"Still getting lots of calls from the press?"

"Not as often as I did two days ago, my dad's called here a few times."

"And you didn't pick up?"

"I was a little afraid too, I mean what would you think if you found out that your daughter got accused of murder, or have your daughter tell you that?"

"I'd be behind her every step of the way."

"You don't know my dad."

"People can surprise you every now and again. Think about picking up the next time he calls, what's the worst that could happen you hang up on him?"

(Meanwhile at a local hotel convention center in Boston) House and Wilson decided to meet up for the lunch break during the weeklong medical convention that Cuddy had demanded quite a few of her staff go on. "So, what are your plans during your free time here?" questioned Wilson who was definitely fishing on House's emotions at being in the same city as his daughter.

"Jimmy, you're fishing, knock it off. I know where you're going with this." Said House from behind the newspaper that he was reading. He read a few more lines and stopped his next witty comeback to Wilson when his eyes landed on an article of disturbing interest. MEDICAL EXAMINER ARRAIGNED FOR MURDER OF JOURNALIST. The paper must have been the one the journalist worked for, because his picture was there along with his daughter's.

"House, earth to House." Said Wilson trying to get his attention. House ignored him and got out his cell phone.

"Yeah, Adam Pierson please. Pierson, you happen to read page three of the Boston Mirror. You're on it. Good. Explains a few things. Can't really make any promises. Right." Said House as he ended the call and went back to the paper.

"House, what in the hell is going on? Who's this Pierson person and why is page three of the Mirror so important?"

"You really want to know, take a look for yourself." He said as he tossed Wilson the paper. Wilson scanned the article and couldn't believe his eyes.

"This is not good at all."

"Really Brilliant observation there."

"So what are you going to do?'

"What do you mean what am I going to do? Explains why she hasn't returned any of my calls."

"You're her father."

"Yes, I know, but there's really nothing much that I can do."

"Well, you could stay here and help her out."

"Right, like she's really going to want my help."

"Don't be so sure of yourself, she may need someone in her corner, and it wasn't as if you really had a say about being able to see her when she was younger."

"Please don't remind me. I'm not even sure if she's still staying at the same place that she was when she first got her job here."

"That's where you're in luck."

"What, you happen to know where she lives?"

"Yes, Uncle Jimmy has been keeping in touch with his god-daughter. She's in an apartment building on Pearl Street."

After Lily had left Leah had decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to try and eat something, she couldn't remember the last time that she had eaten and she knew that wasn't a good sign. After rummaging through the fridge she found that she had some left over soup from the little Italian restaurant that was three blocks away. After popping that in the microwave she got out a bottle of water from the fridge. At first she was a little surprised she thought that she had drank the last one four days ago. Leah just shrugged it off, from all the stress that she had been under her memory wasn't being very cooperative. After taking a long swig she waited for the microwave to ding. She then headed over to her entertainment system and turned on the stereo and sat down on the couch. When it did two minutes later as she made her way back to the kitchen she felt very light headed and woozy, before the thought even crossed her mind that there may have been something in the water she fell to the ground in a heap.

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	2. Chapter 2

Adam Pierson finally arrived in Boston, he knew he should probably try and have a face to face with the DA's office but that could wait for a little while longer, best to go and see how his client was holding up. When he got to her apartment he knocked on the door, after not getting a response he knocked again, "Leah, it's Adam, are you in?" he waited a few minutes more and put his ear close to the door. He could hear her stereo. His gut instinct was telling him that something wasn't right. "Leah, answer me please." He said as he heard a set of footsteps approaching him.

"Who are you?"

"Adam Pierson, her lawyer, you?"

"Nigel Townsend, a co-worker of Leah's. She hasn't been answering her phone or her cell, something seems off."

"Yeah, know the number of her super so we can get in?"

"I can do one better. I have a key to her place, ever since her last trip to the hospital a few years back." Nigel said as he dug out the key and placed it in the lock.

When the two of them entered the apartment they could tell things were off. The could hear Leah's phone ringing and then heard the answering machine pick up as they saw her lying on the floor.

"Please leave a message at the sound of the beep"

"Leah, it's your father pick up. We need to talk." Said a voice the Pierson knew as House.

Nigel rushed to her while Adam got out his cell phone and dialed 911. "She's barely got a pulse. What in the bloody hell happened?"

"Guess is as good is mine."

"There's no pill bottles anywhere which is a good sign."

"The ambulance is on it's way."

"Leah luv, come on stay with us here." Said Nigel as Adam's cell phone went off.

"Pierson, a little busy at the moment Doc. Yes, I know, look just meet us at Boston General." Said Adam as he then ended the call just as the paramedics came in.

"Any idea on what happened?"

"None, but just to warn you her father's going to be meeting us at the hospital."

"Who's her father?"

"Gregory House."

"Man, we're in for it." Said the first EMT as the second medic gave him a questioning look.

"I'll tell you later, let's just get her to the hospital."

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House was able to give Wilson the slip after getting Leah's address and Wilson getting a call from Jersey about one of his patients, House thought he'd try calling to Leah first before heading over to her apartment. After five rings Leah's answering machine picked up "Please leave a message at the sound of the beep."

"Leah, it's your father, pick up," he said waiting a few seconds, "We need to talk." He said with a sigh as he then disconnected. He really couldn't blame her for not answering if she were in, he hadn't made things easy for her the last time she had come to visit, which had caused their rift until about this time last year.

"_What are you doing here?" _

"_Uncle Jimmy called me and told me what had happened."_

"_So now you know, you don't need to be here." _

"_Dad, you're going to need someone to help you during your recovery." _

"_I don't need your help, you weren't there when it happened." _

"_Maybe I would have if Stacy would have called and told me that you were in the hospital in the first place!"_

"_Sure you would have, and why should I believe that Stacy didn't call you?"_

"_Because I had to find out from one of mom's old friends who for some reason still keeps tabs on you and then about three hours later I get a phone call from Jimmy telling me the same thing! That's how! I can ask the same thing of you what makes you think that I wouldn't have come running to be by your side? I would have bent over backwards a lot more than you would have. You don't want me here? Fine. I guess it's what you're good at." Said Leah as she made her way out of her father's hospital room, stopping briefly to give a nod to her uncle and say, "Just try and make sure that he doesn't do anything stupid huh? You seem to be the only one to get through to him. I'll see you around. I have a flight to catch." _

"_Leah wait-" said Wilson trying to stop her. Wilson shot House a deadly glare and tried to go after Leah._

"_Leah, would you please wait up!" said Wilson as he raced to catch up with her._

"_What?" _

"_Even though your father's acting like a complete and total jackass right now he does need you."_

"_How do you figure?"_

"_Stacy's left him."_

"_That's not my problem. Dad's made his bed and he can sleep in it." _

"_Okay, I'll grant you that point, but can you tell me what you meant by him not bending over backward like you did to come and see him." _

"_I really don't want to get into all the details but let's just say I've given up law enforcement and I'm moving on to become an ME. They had called dad when a case I was on with my partner went south and Dad never showed. Ask him. I'll stay in touch with you Jimmy. I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself." She said as she then walked away._

House finally decided after a couple minutes of thinking to try Pierson again just in case Leah was staying somewhere other than her apartment. When Pierson picked up he was rather on the testy side and told House to meet him at Boston General if he wanted to know what was going on. "Great, just great." Said House to himself as he started to make his way to the lobby of the hotel. He was nearly out the door when he got cornered by Cameron.

"House, there you are, we've been looking all over for you!"

"No, from the looks of things namely you were the only that's looking for me and you didn't see me." He said as he hobbled as fast as he could to the door and then yelled "Taxi!" as he saw one pull up. He though he was safe and that Cameron would get the hint, but it just wasn't his day. She had slid in right next to him. He sent her a glare, which she returned. "So, care to tell me what's going on?" she asked sweetly. House ignored her and said to the cabbie, "Boston General as fast as you can."

"House, is it your leg? Are you in more pain than you normally are?"

"It's not my leg."

"Then what is it?" she asked. She waited a few minutes and when House didn't reply she asked, "Is it your daughter?" House visibly flinched when she said that.

"Wilson told you didn't he?"

"No, I- I asked Chase and Foreman about why you really didn't care for Boston and they said that before you hired me there was a rumor going round that you had a daughter very close to our age. Is she sick?"

"That I don't know. You happen to read this morning's paper?"

"Yes, but what does that have to do- you mean?" Cameron asked her eyes going wide in disbelief

"Yeah, she's the one accused of murder, and don't ask me if she actually did it."

"My only question is why we're headed to Boston General?"

"Guess is as good as mine. I called her lawyer and he said to meet him there.


	3. Chapter 3

Twenty minutes later House and Cameron were at Boston General. "Sir! Sir, how can I-" said a front desk nurse as House then stopped and said, "Dr. Gregory House and my colleague Dr. Allison Cameron. I was called saying a patient of mine was brought in. Her name is Leah Rysten."

"Let me see. E.R. exam room two."

"Thanks."

When the two of them got there they quickly went to work. Just as House was about to draw some blood the curtain swung back to reveal two police officers, one male and one female.

"Step away from her, the both of you."

"I'm her doctor, so I can't. Hippocratic oath and all."

"We also heard that you're her father." Said the woman.

"Please, like I'm really going to kill her. I know that she's a murder suspect. If you really want her to stand trial, I'm your best bet. My track record for saving patients with unknown illnesses or poisons is good."

"It could have been a suicide attempt gone bad."

"No, she did not try to commit suicide. So back off and let me do my work blondie."

"Listen here you-" said Lu as House raised his can and pointed it threateningly at her.

"Lu, back off and let the man do his work. We'll let the ethics of him treating her slide."

"Wise man." Said House as he watched Woody pull Lu out of the room.

"Go over her charts again." Said House as he heard footsteps yet again. "I swear I'll beat the next person who tries to stop me from treating this woman."

"I'm Nigel Townsend, friend of the patient and fellow co-worker. Her lawyer and I were the ones who found her."

"Okay," said House waving him in and then saying, "Anything unusual at her apartment?"

"No that we could see."

"Okay, I'm guessing that she had blood drawn for a tox screen when she was booked, that show anything that raised some flags?"

"Her BAC was low and normal tox screen was clean," Nigel said trailing off.

"But you didn't check for any major poisons," said House as he looked at Cameron.

"Call pretty boy and the car thief, they need to do a little recon."

"House, you want to get charged as well!" said Cameron in disbelief.

"Easy luv, I can get those two in no problem. One of the crime scene guys owes me a favor. I'm guessing you want anything and everything."

"Yeah. Good, Chase you and Foreman need to head down to an apartment on Pearl Street. You'll find where you need to go when you get there. I don't care! Just get there." Said House as he hung up his phone and took one vial of blood and handed it to Cameron, "Run this down to the lab here, run a major tox screen and known viruses test. I don't care if you have to do it yourself or use your feminine wiles just get it done, and you call me if you find anything." Said House pointing a finger in Nigel's direction.

"Yes sir," said Nigel jauntily saluting him and leaving. Adam Pierson arrived seconds later, "How is she?"

"As far as I can tell right now, she's stable, unless who or whatever did this to her decides to play hardball, she may not be out of the woods yet."

(15 minutes later) "I can't believe House is making us do this!" said Foreman.

"He sounded pretty pissed off, not like I've ever heard him before, so I wasn't about to tell him no. How much long- well here we are." Said Chase as he saw a few squad cars and a tall gangly man with long black hair leaning against a motorbike. When the two of them exited the car the man approached them.

"Dr. Nigel Townsend, Boston ME's office. Something tells me pretty boy and car thief are not your real names."

"Robert Chase, Eric Forman" said Eric making the introductions.

"If you two gents'll follow me upstairs we can get this started."

"Okay, so who's the name of the person who lives here?" asked Robert when the entered the apartment that Nigel let them into.

"Leah Rysten. Your boss said he was her doctor."

'Well first thing I see that we can grab is that bowl of soup and the bottle of water." Said Chase as Foreman headed towards the bathroom.

"I've got some allergy meds, pain killers and vitamins, might as well not chance anything. We'll tackle the bedroom next." Said Foreman as he returned. Nigel sat back and watched quite amused, these two seemed to be pros at this, and he was a bit afraid to ask why. "I see our boys in blue haven't grabbed Lil's computer yes, so I'll take that into our evidence hold. Let the others come to us on that one." Nigel said as he followed Foreman and Chase to Leah's bedroom.

"Nothing of note on the nightstands." Said Chase.

"Nothing hiding under the bed, uh take that back a photo album." Said Foreman as he quickly flipped through it when a photo caught his attention. As he saw out of the corner of his eye Chase heading towards the huge dresser.

"Uh, Chase let me handle the rummaging through of her clothes."

"Why's that?"

"Because House would beat you within an inch of your life and senseless that's why."

"Now, why would he do that?" questioned Nigel.

"Because something tells me that Leah's either our Boss's daughter or nice, but from the picture my money's on daughter." Said Foreman and he showed the photo to Nigel and Chase of Leah and House together pre-infarction.

"Boys, maybe I should do the digging." Came a voice that Nigel knew all too well.

"Jordan! Give us all coronaries luv."

"If your boss is as friendly as you're portraying him. He'd beat the three of you senseless. Me on the other hand, probably not."

"She's got a point there." Said Foreman, as the three of the men let her begin her search.

"Okay, standard stuff, diary with a key, we'll take that, but again I'll be the one opening it. Otherwise not too much else that would be suspect.

"And let's go through the rest of the rooms one more time just to be on the safe side." Said Nigel


	4. Chapter 4

Back at the Boston County Morgue a few hours later. "Dr. M, can I have a word with you?"

"Sure Bug, what is it?" questioned Macy waving him into his office.

"Something's still bothering me about those ballistic results that Nigel ran. I'd like to rum them again, but I can't find the results."

"That's because Lu or Woody has them per the ADA. What are you thinking?" questioned Macy.

"I'm not exactly sure, but that's why I want a second opinion. I called in a friend of mine that works ballistics here in Massachusetts, a Samantha Redstone. She's waiting in the break room."

"Bug, you've got my okay. Just tread carefully huh?"

"You've got it." Said Bug with a grin as he then tried not to race to the break room.

"So?" questioned Sam as she saw him enter the break room with a look on his face that she couldn't quite tell if it was good news or bad.

"We're good to go. Next stop the Boston Police Department."

(A half an hour later) "Sorry to keep you waiting Bug."

"Understandable. Woody, I'd like you to meet Dr. Samantha Redstone, ballistics expert. Sam, Detective Woodrow Hoyt."

"Pleasure to meet you. So, what can I do for the two of you? Your message was a little cryptic."

"We'd like to go over the ballistics test results and reports one more time." Said Sam.

"Sure thing. Not a problem with me. Just keep your head down if Detective Simmons comes around. She's got Leah in her crosshairs for some unknown reason."

"Got it. I'll try to use my charming personality if she gets prickly." Said Sam.

A few minutes later Bug and Sam were set up with some help from Woody. "Okay, let's see, we've got two gun shots. Positive test for fingerprints, handprints, GSR and woah."

"Woah what?" questioned Bug as he was going over the write up on the crime scene.

"I thought I had read an earlier report that Leah was right handed, but here Dr. Macy has written down that Leah had GSR on her left hand. I mean I know a few people that are ambidextrous when it comes to firing guns, but it's not that often an occurrence, and Dr. Macy is not one to make mistakes."

"Anything you can do to find out for sure?"

"Yeah, I can re-run a few of the tests and look at Leah's proficiency tests, because she was a cop at one time." Said Sam as Bug's pager then went off.

"I've got to go, you have everything under control here?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I have a few more things to go over and you'll be the first to know what I've found out."

A few hours later Same was glad that Woody had given her the heads up about Lu.

"Who are you?" she questioned as she approached Sam.

"I'm Samantha Redstone. I was called in for a second opinion by Dr. Vijay and Ms. Rysten's lawyer."

"A second opinion? This case looks pretty much open and shut to me based on the evidence at hand." Said Lu.

"Oh really? I'm under the impression right now that you'd do just about anything to see Ms. Rysten behind bars." Said Sam trying not to lose her temper, as Woody then came up to the two of them. "Lu, can I have a word with you for a minute in my office please?"

"Of course."

Seconds later they were in Woody's office. "I can't believe you!"

"Excuse me?"

"You've all ready got her tried and convicted in your mind. What in the hell did she ever do to you? If you still have that crazy idea that Leah and I were romantically involved, we never and I mean never ever were. I've worked with Leah once before I cam to Boston. We both grew up in Wisconsin, me just a bit longer than her, but that's besides the point. Everyone here and at the morgue have bent over backwards to make you feel welcome." Said Woody.

"And sometimes you can become so blinded by friendship that you can't see the truth!"

"That's where I think you're wrong. Are we through? Are we through!"

"Yes," said Lu as she beat a hasty retreat.

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"I came as soon as I could. Any news?" questioned Wilson with a concerned look on his face.

"Just that she's still knocked out and that there's not much else for me to do."

"And seeing as Cameron and the others weren't at the last presentation you've got them either running tests or breaking and entering into Leah's apartment, or there's the likelier option of the two they're doing both. So, you know as well as I do, that they'll page or call you when they've got something."

"Yeah, I know, but there's one blonde detective working this case that seems to have a bulls eye painted on her."

"And you're not liking it in the least."

"Oh, you could say that."

"Just don't do anything that will land you in jail huh? I don't want to have to bake you a cake with a file in it."

"If it comes to that make it a pineapple upside down cake." Said House as Wilson rolled his eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm back after a long break, Here's a longer section. Still plotting a few more points out. I don't own House or Crossing Jordan, just Leah. If you like what you're reading please click on the little box below and review.**

(Five hours later)"So, how are we coming with our tests?" questioned Jordan as she entered the morgue's lab where Foreman, Chase and Cameron had gathered.

"You know just well as I do that we can't rush the results."

"Yes, but have we gotten anything else, like hearing back from Nigel?" questioned Jordan as a printer then beeped and started to print.

"We haven't heard anything from Nigel and one of your other associates from the sounds of things from when I talked to your boss was going to get a second opinion on the ballistics tests." Said Cameron as Chase picked up the print out.

"Well, we've got one of our major tests back, the soup was clean, there were no allergens that Leah's susceptible to, or anything poisonous that would have caused the reaction that landed her in the hospital."

"So, that still leaves us with the water and the medicine that we found in her medicine cabinet." Said Cameron.

"Yeah, and we can't ask Leah if she's had any visitors in the past few days, this is so frustrating, the clock is ticking and I'm feeling like we're running out of time." Said Jordan.

"I hear you on that one luv, Did you find anything of interest in her diaries?"

"Nothing that has to do with this case Nige, and no I'm not sharing," said Jordan

"You're no fun. There were a few e-mails on her computer from JD that look like he was trying to coax her into helping him even before this," said Nigel with a grin.

"And you're happy about that?" questioned Chase with a look of disbelief on his face.

"You did a little digging didn't you?"

"Uh-huh. I have been since Leah got arraigned, I was keeping it quiet cause I wasn't sure where it would lead"

"And care sharing with the class?" questioned Foreman.

"Turns out that our dear pain in the ass reporter was doing some investigative reporting on a Judge in DC, from what I've got so far there's a few murder cases that have ties back here to Boston and they're of the drug dealing variety."

"So, you think that JD may have gotten information that the Judge didn't want to be found out and killed him, but why frame Leah?" questioned Cameron

"That's what we're all wondering." Said Samantha as she entered the lab.

"Back so soon?"

"I needed to get out of the precinct before I decided to strangle a certain blonde detective." Said Samantha.

"Take a number, quite a few of us want a few minutes alone with her."

"I decided to take the files that I could take out of the precinct with me and hole up here if that would be okay."

"Shouldn't be a problem you can use my office, and if you find out anything let us know."

"You got it."

"If you'd like my help, I'd be more than willing to lend it, considering I was the one who ran the ballistics in the first place." Said Nigel.

"Sure, and don't feel guilty, you were just going on what was written down."

Garret Macy wasn't fairing any better in his office, he was going over some paper work when an irate ADA Walcott burst into his office.

"Why in the hell didn't you call me!"

"Excuse me?" questioned Garret looking up from the file that he was going over.

"That Leah Rysten is in the hospital. She should be under police guard."

"She hasn't been convicted yet Renee. Why I didn't call you was because I thought you had all ready known. Her lawyer doesn't seem like the type to keep things from the opposing council."

"I can't get a hold of her doctor at all, I've left messages and he hasn't been returning them, ever since I've found out. And there was also a message from Detective Simmons about not trusting her doctor."

"I honestly can't say I know anything about that Renee." Said Garret as he saw Nigel walking past his office, "Nigel, a word with you."

"Yes, Dr. M" said Nigel as he saw Renee.

"You were at the hospital when Leah was brought in correct?"

"Yes, why?"

"Do you happen to know why Detective Simmons would have called Ms. Walcott and said not to trust her Doctor?"

"Well, her doctor just happens to be her father, Woody was okay with it, considering we still haven't found out what caused her to pass out." Said Nigel,

"And what's her father's name?" questioned Renee glaring at Nigel.

"Dr. Gregory House,"

"Any idea on where he actually does work?"

"A few of his colleagues are here working with us and from what they've told me they work in New Jersey."

"Thank you, Dr. Townsend, that's all that I need."

"You can leave Nige," said Garret shooting him a look that the two of them and maybe a few others would be talking later.

"I have a few phone calls to make. You get any more information you call me right away."

An hour later Renee Walcott had finally tracked down where Dr. House worked and decided to call his superior, just to see what he was doing in Boston.

"Dr. Lisa Cuddy,"

"Hello Dr. Cuddy, I'm Renee Walcott from the District Attorney's office in Boston, do you employ a Dr. Gregory House."

"Yes, I do, is there something wrong?"

"I was wondering why he's in Boston."

"He's at a medical conference there, don't tell me he got involved in a case in Boston and now the patient's parents or loved ones are suing him."

"No, he's treating his daughter who just happens to be charged with killing a man." There was an extended period of silence. "Doctor Cuddy?"

"I'm still here, it's just that this is the first I've heard of this, let me assure you that I will be on the next flight out to get to the bottom of this."

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House was sitting by his daughter's bedside going over the latest medical information that was logged onto her chart when he became aware that his cell phone was vibrating. He had forgotten that he had turned it on. He opened it up and noticed that he had thirteen unanswered messages. His curiosity getting the better of him he retrieved them. More than half were from a rather prickly ADA who was working his daughter's case and two were from a pissed off Cuddy who was coming into town. Oh joy, just what he needed, Cuddy breathing down his throat.

"Any change?" questioned Wilson as he poked his head in.

"Nope, nothing since the last time you checked in, and I haven't heard anything from the Scooby Gang either."

"So, you're not going to light the proverbial fire under their butts to get them to move faster?"

"If it would help, I would, but we can't cut any corners. We're going to be having company by sometime later tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest."

"What do you mean by that?"

"An ADA by the name of Wolcott called Cuddy and guess who's hopped on her broomstick to head over here."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope, I think blondie ratted on her partner to the ADA."

"Let's just hope either one of them won't pull you. What?" questioned Wilson

"Who are you and what have you done to the real Wilson? Normally you would be on your high horse siding with them."

"In this case, well, I'm siding with you. Leah needs all the help that she can get, and I'm getting the same feeling that you are that she's got a great big target on her and at least you're giving her the benefit of the doubt, regardless that she's your daughter." Said Wilson as they heard footsteps approaching the doorway and a woman with blonde hair stopping at the entrance.

"I uh- can come back later."

"No, please come in. You must be a friend of Leah's." said Wilson giving her a friendly smile.

"Yes, I'm Lily Lebowski."

"James Wilson and this is Gregory House."

"H-how is she? The last time any of us tried to call they wouldn't tell us much of anything."

"On the surface everything looks fine, but we're still figuring out what caused her to stay like this and what other damage it may be doing to her system." Said House.

"So, they're actually letting you work your own daughter's case?" questioned Lily softly.

"For the time being yes, I don't know how long that will last. Your ADA's all ready knows and my boss is on the next flight out as well."

"Jeffery?" questioned Lily

"If that's what-no, Wolcott, who's Jeffery?"

"My fiancée and he's not going to hear it from me about your relationship. I'm going to be blissfully ignorant on that. Did you and Leah have a chance to talk before this happened?"

"No, why? Did she tell you something?"

"Only that you had called a few times but she was afraid to pick up and talk to you. She wasn't sure how you would handle the news." Said Lily.

"Don't even give me that look." Said House in Wilson's direction as his pager went off.

"Its Cameron, they may have found something. It was nice meeting you. I'm sure we'll talk again." Said House as he then left the room with Wilson in a somewhat mad dash.

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(Back at the Morgue) "Hey Sam, what did you find?" questioned Jordan as she saw Samantha nervously looking around.

"You haven't seen Dr. Macy at all have you? There were a couple of questions that I wanted to ask him."

"Again, what did you find?" questioned Jordan as she pulled Sam into an empty break room.

"Well, it's not a hundred percent for sure yet, Nige's still running the last set of tests and it looks as if Leah didn't fire the gun, someone fired it for her."

"Th-this is fantastic news. We've got to call-"

"Jordan, it's not quite for sure yet. That's why I need to talk to Dr. Macy."

"Ah, that wouldn't be such a good idea right now."

"Don't tell me it's got something to do with his daughter?" off of Jordan's look, "Nige kind of filled me in on what's been going on, he can be quite the font of information."

"That he can, and no it's nothing with Abby. He had a rather interesting visit from Wolcott."

"I'm going to need to talk to him sometime Jordan, and I'd rather have it sooner rather than later."

"I'll come with you, at least that way he'll bark more at me than you."

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In a quiet office at Boston County General. "I got your page what have you found out yet?" questioned House

"Well, not too much." Cameron replied

"Then why are you calling?"

"The test results on the food that she ate came up clean, we're still working on the water, Chase just got the results from the meds that they found in her medicine cabinet."

"All right Chase, talk to me."

"They're clean, so that leaves the water."

"And if we don't come up with anything there, we're all going to be in trouble."

"What do you mean by that?" questioned Cameron.

"Never mind."

"No, what do you mean by that." Questioned Chase.

"Cuddy's coming into town. So you can all pretty much guess what that means."

"Just another typical Tuesday." Said Foreman.


	6. Chapter 6

_Here's the next chapter. I don't own Crossing Jordan or House. The only characters that I own are Leah Rysten and Samantha Redstone. If you're enjoying what you've read so far, click on the little box at the end of the chapter and leave me a note. _

Lisa Cuddy was trying to keep her nerves calm and it was taking all of her will power for her not to get out her cell phone and call House and give him the worse dressing down that she could think of. She kept telling herself that this was typical House behavior, but still, if things were as bad as Wolcott was not filling her in on she'd be needing to call a lawyer for House. She sighed and fell back into her seat biding her time until she landed in Boston.

Back at the Boston Morgue Garret Macy's week wasn't getting any better and he thought it couldn't get any worse until Dr. Slocum appeared at his office door, when his phone picked that time to ring. "Macy. Look Abby, now's not- all right, all right, when do you need me there? All right, see you then." As he then hung up the phone and turned his attention towards Slocum. "Jack, what can I do for you?"

"Well, seeing as some news doesn't travel as fast as it does in the office grapevine, I was wondering how Doctor Rysten is."

"As of right now she's in the hospital and I have the ADA breathing down my neck and I guess you here to tell me that this would never have happened under your watch."

"Garret, may I remind you of our last conversation that we had. I say that I'm acting as your guardian angel on high. See to your daughter and pass along my regards to Ms. Lebowski on her upcoming nuptials. I have a feeling that we'll be meeting again soon." Said Slocum as he then left a rather confused Garret.

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"We've got the test results back from the bottle of water that was open in Leah's apartment."

"And?" questioned House

"Well, from what we've been able to gather it's a combination of a mix of rohypnol and the smallest trace of curare." Said Chase.

"Which would cause all of this to happen. Are you sure about that Chase?" questioned Foreman.

"Yes, Dr. Foreman it would." Said Bug as he then came into the lab that the group was in. "Dr. Chase called me into look at what he had found and this combo would cause Leah to pass out and I believe it may be a modified version of what Leah could have been drugged with, but I can't run a comparison test because of Det. Simmons. So, I can't be certain but I'm getting the feeling that someone does not want Leah to live to tell the tale of whatever she may know about the story that J.D. was working on."

"What story?" questioned House then going on with a shake of his head as Bug was about to tell him, "On second thought, don't tell me."

"Could you run a chemical makeup test. I think I still may have Nigel's tox screen results that he ran somewhere in these papers." Said Cameron gesturing with her hand to a two inch stack sitting on another lab table.

"It's worth a shot. But I'm warning you, it's going to take me some time, and I don't take well to being hounded." Said Bug shooting House a bit of a scathing look. House didn't say anything but did try to send an I'm innocent and would never do such a thing look.

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"Woah, slow down." Said Jordan grabbing a hold of Sam by her elbow.

"Okay, why? You're the one who was practically dragging me down the hall." Said Sam trying not to majorly glare at Jordan, she was trying to help her after all.

"I just saw someone I'd rather not see coming out of Garret's office.

"But it's still somewhat safe to talk to him right?" questioned Sam

"I'd say about a fifty-fifty chance, we'll have to proceed with a little more caution." She said as she then poked her head into Garret's office.

"Safe to come in?"

"Yeah, what do you have or want, Jordan?"

"Well, one what was Slocum doing in here in your office? Don't tell me they're placing him in charge again, 'cause I still have that bonsai tree of his, can't kill the damn thing, trust me I've tried." Garret let a small grin come across his face and said, " Just that he's still looking out for me, whatever the hell that's supposed to mean at this point in time, so I'll ask you again Jordan, what brings you here?"

"Well, it's more like us, Gar. I'd like you to meet Samantha Redstone, she had a couple of questions she needed to ask you."

"Sure, so what did you need to know?" questioned Garret.

"In your field report you said that Leah had GSR on her left hand, how sure are you of that?"

"Pretty sure of it, her right hand showed no GSR traces, only thing of note was a bruise on her upper right arm. Why?"

"From other reports I've read it's said that Leah was right handed and from what I've been able to find so far in the fire arm proficiency test she did Leah never shot a gun left handed or if she did she wasn't accurate and from what I've seen of the crime photos it was an accurate shot." Said Samantha.

"So, you're telling me the odds are pretty good that she didn't shoot JD and it was someone else." Said Garret.

"Yeah, I've just got to track down Nigel to see if he's come up with the same conclusion I did."

"Can you do me a favor and don't go telling anyone else what you've found out?" questioned Garret.

"Sure thing, I could see where this information coming out could tick a few people off who think they have an open and shut case, and even the person behind the set-up job." Said Sam.

"Exactly. If the two of you'll excuse me, I have a few things I need to finish up and then I have to meet someone." Said Garret.

"You go on ahead, Sam, I still need to have a word with Garret." Said Jordan sensing that something was going on.

"Okay." Once Sam was out of earshot Jordan gave Garret a critical look, "What's going on Garret, is it Abby?" Garret let out an exasperated breath, "Yeah, Abby called me before Slocum came to see me, all she said was that she needed to see me and that was it. So, I'm on my way over there."

"I'm sure she's fine Garret, call me if you need to talk or if a visit from me might help, okay?"

"Yeah, now please get out of my office."

"Sure thing, boss."

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) Lily was trying her best not to loose her temper with Elaine Brandau, her soon to be mother in law.

"Lily dear, please think about this, this is supposed to be your day coming up, why throw it away on helping your friend, your friend should understand and be happy for you." Said Elaine.

"That may be Mrs. Brandau."

"Please dear, call me Elaine."

"That may be Elaine, but my friend is lying in a hospital bed, unconscious from who knows what, so excuse me, if that overrides my special day right at the moment. If you'll excuse me, I'm supposed to me meeting your son for a private lunch." Said Lily as she stormed out of her apartment. Lily couldn't believe Elaine's audacity at suggesting that she still go through with the wedding in the next two days. Lily let out a breath to calm herself down. She knew deep down that Leah would still want her to go on with the ceremony without her, but Lily wanted her there, plus there was something that Lily couldn't quite put her finger on, the feeling of uncertainty and certainty that she was getting, and why she was having these feelings at this time. She sighed, best not to be thinking like this now or Jeffery would wonder what's wrong.

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Cuddy finally arrived at her hotel to quickly drop off her things and she was back in the first taxi that she could find to take her to Boston General Hospital to track down house. She'd call ADA Wolcott after she had talked to House first to find out his side of the story and what she could try to spin control. When she got to the front reception area of the hospital she was quickly helped and told where House and his ducklings could be found. When she arrived at the lab, she let the emotions get the better of her.

"House, what in the hell were you thinking!!"

"I'm sorry but Dr. House isn't here right now." Said a voice that Cuddy didn't know.

"Who are you?" questioned Cuddy.

"Dr. Mahesh Vijay. I work at the ME's office here in town."

"And you're here because?" questioned Cuddy. Bug raised an eye brow and looked at Cuddy just a little skeptically. "I'm helping work on Dr. House's daughter's case, and his daughter just happens to be a friend and co-worker of mine. And you are, let me guess, Dr. House's boss."

"Yeah, he's not paying you to hide him or anything is he?" questioned Cuddy.

"Contrary to popular belief, I can not be bribed. I don't know where he went."

"Great, just great. What about the others?"

"They're at some discussion panel that you wanted them to be at. They should be back within the next hour or so." Cuddy let out a breath and let her shoulders slump just a little. "So how is his Leah?" questioned Cuddy then going on after Bug gave her a somewhat surprised look that she knew Leah's name, "We've met a few times before, just because House might have made me out to be a cold-hearted bitch doesn't exactly mean that I am one."

"The last time I heard she was still unconscious up on second floor. We think we may have found what caused her to be in that condition, but I'm still trying to find that out for sure."

"So, do you think that she actually did what the ADA said she did?"

"I honestly believe that she didn't do this. Sure we've all threatened at one time or another to kill someone, but never went out and did it. I've seen Leah get angry, but I really don't believe that she'd be capable of killing someone in cold blood, but then I'm one of the few in the minority that believe that."

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Nigel slowly made his way to Leah's hospital room; from his fuzzy count he'd been up for the past twenty-four hours if not longer. Nigel needed to get out from the lab and to check up on Leah. When he got there he could tell that she was sleeping. He took a chair next to her bedside just at the time a nurse entered the room.

"Oh, are you Ms. Rysten's boyfriend?"

"No, no, I'm not, I'm a good friend of hers."

"It's good to see that she's had visitors coming into see her. Lets her know that she's cared about." Said the nurse, whose name was Evelyn.

"How is she?" questioned Nigel.

"She has her moments where her heart rate skyrockets and then calms back down. Poor thing must be having nightmares. My personal opinion is that she's getting better minute by minute, and waking up and finding someone as good looking as yourself sitting by my bedside would be a definite plus."

"Evelyn, you naughty girl you." Said Nigel with a grin.

"If you need anything, or if she would happen to wake up, I'll be right around the corner at the nurses' station." Evelyn then left, leaving Nigel alone with Leah.

"Can you believe her?" he said with a chuckle looking at Leah and then going on, "You've got a lot of people looking out for you and trying to clear your name luv. You're father's quite the interesting man. Threatened to beat me with his cane the first time I met him. What did you exactly tell him about me? But I did wind up meeting him when he was trying to figure out why you were brought to the ER in the first place. This brings back memories of me talking to Bug after he got injured on the mass grave case we were working on. At least you and I didn't get in an argument about minotaurs and centaurs."

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"This is a nice quiet little spot." Said Jeffery

"Yes, it is." Said Lily

"Any news yet from the hospital?"

"No, no change from the last time that I've seen her."

"We're still on for two days from now right?" questioned Jeffery. Lily sat there and quickly thought of her answer.

"Yes, yes we are." She said hoping that she sounded more sure of her self than what she actually did.

"Good. Mother was a little concerned."

"Like I told your mother this morning, Leah is my friend and I'm concerned about her, and I know that she would want me to go through this, just give me a little space and I will be ready. " said Lily irritated that Jeffrey had brought up his mother. He should have brought up that he was concerned about her emotional state and not his mother.

"I know, I know, I just want to be sure that you're happy and okay with this." Said Jeffery as he placed his hand on top of hers.


	7. Chapter 7

**Here's the next installment. I don't own House or Crossing Jordan. If you like what you're reading hit the little button below to leave a review.**

"Have we gotten anywhere yet?" questioned House when he arrived back at the lab Bug was working in.

"No, not yet. Got interrupted by your boss."

House winced, "Don't tell me she's stopped you."

"No, more like accused me of hiding you and the usual twenty questions I've been asked so far on this case." Said Bug as the door burst open and Woody entered.

"So, anything yet?" Bug let out an exasperated sigh, "We narrowed it down that Leah was poisoned. Sam's still working on the ballistics, and no, I haven't heard from her and two,"

"Uh, that would be three," said House as Bug glared at him. House shot him an innocent look and Bug continued, "Three, I'm still in the process of funning a breakdown and comparison to Leah's tox screen and the poison, which is going to take time. I don't know how much, and the both of you sitting here waiting isn't going to make it or me go any faster. So, if you have other things to do, do them. I'll page the both of you when I get anything." Both House and Woody stood there not making a move to the door. Bug let it go for a few minutes and then gave up. "You-"he said, pointing at Woody, "Keep Lu off of us for a while if possible, or find me the actual hard copy tox results. I can't find the copies that Nigel gave Dr. Cameron. And you," he said looking at House, "Go see your daughter, get some rest, get some food, whatever. Just the both of you out and now. Please."

"Yes sir." Said House saluting him with his cane and getting the feeling that Woody hounded Bug for test results whenever Bug landed working a case with the Detective. Woody still stood there like a defiant child. "Are you deaf? You heard the man," said House as he used his cane as a hook to get Woody moving and out the door before Bug decided to do a live autopsy. Woody gave House a glare but it quickly faded. "Well, I better go and see where that tox file is locked up, are you going to take his advice?"

"Yeah, I've got no other choice." Said House.

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(A few hours later) Nigel Townsend was rather surprised when he drifted awake that he and Leah had a visitor and it wasn't someone that he was familiar with.

"Can I help you?" questioned Nigel.

"Relax, I'm one of the good guys. I'm Dr. Lisa Cuddy."

"Dr. Nigel Townsend."

"I wouldn't buy that good guy routine. She's been known to turn at a moment's notice." Said a voice that they both recognized as House's

"Oh, please. You're the one that's usually causing me all the headaches."

"Yeah, and you give me headaches as well."

"I can't even begin to tell you how much trouble you could possibly be in for doing this."

"Well, it's probably a lot less trouble than what Leah's going to be in if this witch hunt continues."

"I highly doubt it. Jail time, suspension, loss of license. Not to mention lawsuits. House do you even stop to think!" yelled Cuddy.

Nigel watched this strange ping pong shouting match between House and Cuddy but was growing a little concerned by Leah's heart monitor. The heart rate was going steadily up.

"Would the two of you please knock it off before we all get kicked out of here!" Cuddy and House both stopped and glared at him. "Her heart rate was starting to go through the roof because of your little shouting match. So either lower your voices or take it outside. Your doctors for crying out loud." Cuddy and House looked a little sheepish. "We're going to talk about this later. Have you gotten anywhere so far?" questioned Cuddy looking at House.

"Chase, Cameron, Foreman and Dr. Vijay are starting to narrow down what Leah ate that could have poisoned her, but that's not going as fast as I or a certain Boston Detective would like. But with how this case could become a very political nightmare, I'm not going to rush anything."

"That's a first." Said Cuddy.

"What did Nigel just tell you?" questioned a very groggy voice.

Everyone in the room somewhat jumped and turned to face the hospital bed.

"Leah!" all three of them said at the same time.

"You were going to bait him again."

"No I wasn't." said Cuddy. Leah opened her eyes a little farther and shot her a disbelieving look.

"Ah, Dr. I wouldn't lie to her. She's been a pretty good lie detector around the ME's office."

"Fine, I probably was, it's a very hard habit to break when it comes to dealing with your father."

"How are you feeling luv?" questioned Nigel.

"Still a little out of it and my stomach feels like it's in a washing machine."

"Just take nice easy breaths. We're still trying to figure out was slipped into whatever you ate or drank. Do you remember anything at all?" questioned Nigel as Cuddy then hopped in on him, "Shouldn't we call the others and let them know that she's awake?"

"In a few minutes, I don't want the wrath of Detective Simmons or ADA Wolcott coming in here and grilling her. Which I'm sure that you wouldn't allow, either. As I was saying do you remember anything?"

"The only things that I remember was Lily visiting and after she left that I should probably eat something and then I remember a few minutes later getting woozy and then nothing until you came and started talking and Dad and Cuddy's little shouting match."

"What were you doing before you got woozy, bump up against anything?" questioned House.

"No, I had gotten some water, it tasted fine to me, but I had this feeling that I had drank the last of the bottled water I had bought, but my memory's been so out of whack with what's been going on."

"You're doing just fine." Said House as he pulled out his cell phone and looked at Nigel.

"What's Dr. Vijay's cell phone number."

"555-2956, why?"

"We might have a possible break in the case."

"We knew that the water was poisoned." Said Nigel

"Yes, but I can't for the life of me remember if we remembered to get prints off that water bottle."

"Same here." Said Nigel as a nurse then came into the room.

"She's awake."

"Yes, she is. We're going to need to have another sample of blood drawn and sent to Dr. Vijay from the Boston ME's office. He's working in one of the labs here."

"Of course."

(Back at the lab) Bug let out a sigh when he saw an unknown number come across on his cell phone.

"Vijay."

"It's House."

"I don't have any-"

"Before you start in on me, did we run prints off that water bottle yet?"

"I'm going to have to check with Jordan or Dr. Macy on that one why?"

"Leah's awake at the moment and she said that she didn't think that the water bottle she drank from was there before."

"Okay."

"And it looks like you're going to be sent another blood sample. See if this combo she was drugged with is out of her system or if it's going to come back and rear it's ugly head." Said House

"Thanks. Tell Leah to take it easy and that she's got a lot of people in her corner." When Bug ended the phone call he wasn't too surprised to see Jordan poke her head in.

"Don't shoot me, but how's it going?" questioned Jordan.

"We may be making some head way. We still have the water bottle from Leah's apartment?"

"Yeah, it's back in evidence lockup at the morgue. Why?"

"It could be very possible that who ever framed Leah broke in and placed it in her apartment."

"How do you know that?"

"She's awake right now."

"I'll get right on it after I see her. And good news, Sam's tests are really really leaning towards that Leah didn't shoot JD."

"Great, now I better get back to work before Dr. House comes down and offers to help."

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By the time that Jordan arrived at Leah's Hospital room Drs. House and Cuddy were walking out. Nigel was there with Leah.

"They leave?" questioned Leah.

"They're making their way out towards the elevators, but why do I get the feeling that they're going to rip each other to shreds later?"

"That's typical behavior for those two from what Wilson's told me." Said Leah with a sigh.

"You okay luv?" questioned Nigel.

"I guess."

"Hey, don't start feeling guilty for yourself." Said Jordan.

"Jordan, I'm surprised you feel that way."

"Woah where did that come from. Why wouldn't I feel that way?"

"Because JD's dead."

"Leah, I'm not blaming you for his death. Whatever he was working on was what probably got him killed. Not you. And if you think otherwise, I'm going to have to kick your ass as soon as you're out of that hospital bed."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"You'd do that for any of us if we were in your shoes." Said Jordan.

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"That's great Bug. I'll be sure to pass it along to the others." Said Garret as he saw Renee Wolcott standing outside Garret's office. "Look, Bug I better let you go. Just keep me informed."

"Garret."

"I take it this is a business call."

"It is."

"If this is concerning the Rysten case I don't want to hear it."

"Oh, you're going to listen. You can't have all of your team dedicated and pulling in others just to try and get results that clear Dr. Rysten's name."

"So, you mean to tell me that you have no problems with putting an innocent woman behind bars."

"Innocent! My god Garret, she had her fingerprints and GSR on her hands. She was seen fighting with Mr. Pollack before he died. You're defending her as much as you would Jordan."

"She's not Jordan, nor will she ever be. I assume that you know that Bug called in an independent investigator to go over the ballistics."

"That I heard, but how does he know her?"

"A mutual acquaintance, and from what we've got so far, she didn't fire that gun. Someone fired it for her. She's right handed Renee, the GSR was on her left hand."

"That could mean anything."

"You know as well as I do that she did serve on a police force before coming here and Ms. Redstone did go over her firearm proficiency tests and she was not accurate at all shooting left handed."

"There's a first time for everything Garret, she could have gotten lucky."

"Which team are you playing for Renee? I think you've been spending way too much time with Detective Simmons. Whatever happened to innocent before proven guilty?" Reene didn't respond to that but put out a threat of her own, "Anymore of you try to interfere in this investigation and I will be sure that none of you are going to be working on it." She said as she stormed out of the office.

_That went rather disastrously. _Thought Garret to himself wondering if he had done the right thing by arguing with Renee. At least he hadn't slipped and said that Leah was awake. Just from the mood that she was in Renee could have put Leah behind bars on some nitpicky violation, if there even was one that she could come up with. He was lost in thought when he saw Woody slightly poke his head in.

"Was that Wolcott I just saw storm out of here?"

"Yeah, Don't even get me started."

"I can guess what she came to see you about."

"Yeah. So, what brings you by?'

"I'm still trying to track down the original tox screens from when Leah was brought in. You still wouldn't happen to have them?"

"Nope, ever since Lu pulled her Svengali on Wolcott your guess is as good as mine."

"Great. Did you hear anything from the others?"

"Just got a call from Bug not that long ago."

"Test results?"

"No, Leah's awake. They're not sure how long that's going to last, this could be just temporary, just keep that under your hat."

"Will do. I'm going to head back to the precinct and do a little snooping."

Woody was coming up with a big goose egg trying to track down the hard copy of Leah's tox screen. The last person he wanted to have to deal with was Lu again. He was a little surprised when his search was interrupted by ADA Wolcott.

"Looking for anything in particular Detective?"


	8. Chapter 8

Here's the next installment. I don't own either House or Crossing Jordan. If you're liking what you're reading, click the little grey button at the bottom. Enjoy.

(Two hours later) Woody was coming up with a big goose egg trying to track down the hard copy of Leah's tox screen. The last person he wanted to have to deal with was Lu again. He was a little surprised when his search was interrupted by ADA Wolcott.

"Looking for anything in particular Detective?"

"An old case file of mine, tying up some loose ends." Said Woody

"Uh-huh, tell me another one. You're looking for something on the Rysten Case."

"And what if I am?"

"Then you Detective, are skating on a very very thin patch of ice. Stealing evidence and letting the morgue twist it isn't going to do you any favors."

"I'm not twisting anything," said Woody as Wolcott's cell phone then rang.

"Wolcott. Oh really? Thanks, I'll be right down. Seems that Garret didn't tell me that Leah was awake."

_Crap_. Woody thought to himself as he said nothing as Wolcott left. Woody gave Wolcott a good three minute head start before he dug out his cell phone and dialed Boston General. "This is Detective Woodrow Hoyt, I need to be connected to Leah Rysten's room. Thank you."

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James Wilson had just entered Leah's room when the phone rang. He was about to head back out when Leah motioned for him to come into the room. "Hello? Woody, woah, slow down. What? Great, no, I'm fine, just tired of this whole mess. Oh, don't worry I won't." said Leah as she hung up the phone, sighed, and slumped back into her pillows.

"What was that all about?"

"The A.D.A. is coming to see me and probably ask me a few questions. So that means we're going to need to get a hold of Pierson, unless Wolcott called him to give him a heads up."

"Don't worry about it. You're starting to look better. I'm surprised your dad isn't here playing guard."

"After Cuddy came in? Dad's trying to say away from her if at all possible." Said Leah with a sigh.

"What's going on in that head of yours?"

"You want to play my conscious?"

"Would you quit channeling your father please." Said Wilson giving her a stern look.

"I'll try my best. I'm scared. What if-"

"Don't start the what ifs that's not going to do you any good."

"I know, it's just I don't know how anyone is going to get me out of this mess, and what in the hell that JD was working on that would get me landed in jail for his murder and here."

"You know that everyone you know is working on trying to find that out right?"

"Yeah, I do. I just hope that it's not a wild goose chase that they're undertaking because of me." She said then going on, "I wish I could just piece back whatever happened."

"Don't get yourself stressed out, the harder you try to think back, the harder it will be to get that information back. Your father would have my hide if I got you riled."

"And I would too." Came a voice that they knew as Adam Pierson.

"So, who called you?" questioned Wilson.

"Dr. House, why?"

"ADA Wolcott somehow found out that Leah's awake and she's headed over here."

"And how do you know that? So help me if you're the one that spilled that information."

"It wasn't me that told her. I'm Leah's godfather for crying out loud. Detective Hoyt called Leah to let her know that she'd be getting a visitor."

"You're not saying anything. Ah, don't argue with me. You're in no condition to go through any round of questions that Wolcott may have for you. The only way you're talking is until you get a clean bill of health from either him or your father."

"Okay, I'll let you tell her that." Said Leah as Wolcott then came into the hospital room.

"I hope that you didn't break any traffic violations on the way over here." Said Pierson as he turned his attention to Wolcott.

"No, I didn't. I have a few questions that I would like to ask Ms. Rysten."

"I'm afraid that's not possible."

"She's awake, unless she's lost the ability to talk she can write her answers out."

"As of right now, she's in no condition for any high stress questioning from you. So you can wait until she's discharged."

"And whatever you would want to ask of me is under doctor patient confidentiality, so, it's going to have to wait." Said Wilson.

"You know this isn't over." Said Renee.

"We know that much." Said Pierson waiting to see what Renee would drop on them next.

"Just contact me when she's ready to talk."

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Two evenings later, everyone that was able to attend Lily's wedding were there. Jordan, Garret, Nigel, and Woody. The others were either working on Leah's case or staying away entirely. "Any idea on where Bug is?" questioned Garret.

"I think he decided not to come, don't ask me why." Said Nigel.

"Any more word on Leah?" questioned Woody

"I talked to her briefly she seems to be okay, but then it's hard to say, she can be good at hiding her feelings." Said Jordan as they all heard murmuring, the group turned to see Lily coming towards Jeffery and his mother, but she wasn't in her wedding dress. She was in the dress that she had been wearing earlier in the day.

"Excuse me," said Lily softly as she made her way towards Jeffery and Elaine.

"That's not the dress."

"I'm so sorry. I can't do this." Said Lily

"Okay" said Jeffery not really knowing what Lily was getting at.

"Okay?"

"It was wrong to push. The wedding doesn't have to be today we can postpone it." Said Jeffery as Lily shook her head.

"I don't mean that I can't marry you today. I just can't. I'm so sorry." Said Lily as she took off the ring and handed it back to Jeffery who was standing there in disbelief as Lily made her way forward to address the crowd.

"Jeffery and I are so grateful that you all are here on this special day, this is completely my fault, don't take it out on Jeffery, he's a kind and great man, I- just can't- the wedding's off." Said Lily as she then raced out of the room. The guests and everyone stood there somewhat shocked.

"Woah" said Nigel.

"I'm going after her." Said Jordan as Garret then placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Jordan, just let her be."

Ten minutes later in a daze Lily wound up at the morgue and found Bug going over some paper work, listening to music. Lily turned his chair around and Bug then took out the earphones that he had in his ears.

"Lily,"

"Why aren't you at my wedding?"

"I couldn't watch you marry him. Why aren't you at your wedding?"

"I couldn't marry him."

"Why not?"

"He's not you." Said Lily.

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Adam Pierson decided to pay the morgue crew a visit to see where they were getting on Leah's test results, he knew that some of the other evidence they had found would help clear Leah, but the case also hinged on the tox screen results. When Adam got near Garret's office he could tell that Garret wasn't too thrilled and there was a new person in the morgue. Once the blonde haired woman left, Adam knocked on the door,

"What did you want Pierson?"

"Who was that?"

"A new co-worker a Dr. Kate Switzer, she's here to help over see our cases to make sure that we aren't corrupting anything." Said Garret.

"Let me guess courtesy of ADA Wolcott."

"I wouldn't doubt it or from Detective Simons. We still haven't gotten any farther yet if you're looking for Leah's tox results."

"Great, well at least Ms. Redstone's findings should prove useful, now if we could only find out what in the bloody hell Pollack was up to then we could probably close this case."

"You're really beginning to state the obvious." Said Garret.

"So sorry, but the pieces aren't clicking together the way they should and we've got quite a few hiding somewhere."

"Tell me about it, and I'm trying to keep the majority of my workers in line and making sure they don't cross the line about getting the information in not so legal means."

"You know what they say, rules are meant to be bent."

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House decided to pay his daughter an early morning visit and was rather surprised to see Cuddy coming out of his daughter's room.

"What in the hell were you doing in there?"

"Just checking up on her that's all."

"Sure, and trying to pump her for information too, I can just imagine and then you'd be on the phone to your new bestest bud the ADA and spill every little detail."

"House, would you give me a break please, she's tight lipped and tired, not to mention stressed."

"Stressed what do you mean stressed?"

"I asked her and all she said was to ask Wilson."

"Ask Wilson?" questioned House as he then made his way into Leah's room with Cuddy following him back in.

"Care filling me in on what happened yesterday?" questioned House.

"Nothing much. Jimmy came to visit, and that was about it." Said Leah.

"Oh, please, I can tell from the look on your face that you're lying and you don't sound that convincing."

"House-" said Cuddy

"No, you're the one who brought it up. You asked her and she said to ask Wilson, so let's just cut to the chase, Who. Came. Here." Said House making each word a sentence.

"It was no big deal."

"It's a big deal to me. My patience is wearing thin, what happened? I can call Wilson and have him tell me, but I'd rather hear it from you." Said House who was trying not to loose his temper with his daughter.

Leah sighed, "Pierson came to see me yesterday, and ADA Wolcott showed up, some creative thinking on Pierson and Jimmy's part spared me her questioning."

"And why wasn't I informed of this."

"I didn't want to bother you with it."

"Bother? My own daughter could wind up spending the rest of her life in jail if we let them keep up the line that this is an open and shut case!! I'm bothered by it!!"

"House, yelling at her isn't going to do any good."

"Why are you bothered now? You mean to tell me you weren't bothered about three years ago when I was in a different hospital bed." Said Leah taking a breath and going on, "Weren't that concerned when your only daughter was in the hospital then, hanging on by a thread for awhile. Now that she's facing a chance at life in prison you change your tune."

"That's not true." Said House.

"Then why didn't you come to see me? I needed you!" said Leah. House stood there speechless.

"That bitch." Muttered House.

"What?" questioned Cuddy.

"Stacy. I had gotten the phone call and I was on my way there to see her, and then she said that she had gotten a phone call from Leah saying that the doctors had exaggerated and that she was fine. I should have trusted my own instincts." Said House then looking at his daughter, "Why didn't you call again?"

"Every time I did, Stacy was the one that answered the phone, and then you remember how pleasant you were when I came to see you." Said Leah softly.

"The two of you have a lot to work through, I'm going to leave you to it."

"And no snitching to the ADA." Said House as Cuddy decided to make her way out of Leah hospital room and bumped into Nigel Townsend.

"What are you doing here?" questioned Cuddy

"I'm here to check up on Leah. Jordan said that Leah didn't quite sound like her usual self yesterday and from what I caught standing out here that it wasn't the best day."

"You know about as much as I do. Look, I wouldn't go in there right now. The relationship between the two of them has been on the dysfunctional side ever since I've known them."

"I'll spare you the obligatory dysfunctional cliché then."

"Thanks, I don't know about you, but I could use a coffee, and you can fill me in on what's going on so far. House won't tell me much of anything."

"Can you blame him?" questioned Nigel.

Cuddy shot him a glaring look and Nigel held up his hands as they made their way towards the cafeteria.

"I know I'm his boss, yes what he's doing I find a little bit questionable, so it's typical behavior for him to not tell me anything."

"Yeah, but then there's the other side of the coin."

"What other side?"

"The father side of the coin. He nearly threatened to beat me to a pulp when I came into check on Leah when she was first brought into the ER. I don't know much about their relationship, but they do have the semblance of one." Said Nigel.

"Speaking from experience?"

"Let's just say that my father and I don't have the best relationship either, but Leah's got it a bit better than I do. But that's a story for another time."

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